Mercado
strange doings at the Tour today. a small break gets a big lead. i picked up the viewing while the peloton was on the Soudet. from that point, they actually lost time up until the descent of the Marie Blanque. what amazed me most was T-Mobile's ineffectiveness. yes, they claimed, and maybe rightly so, that they weren't willing to protect Gonchar's lead. por otro lado, can they actually protect a lead? are they strong enough? i forgot they lost 2 riders from Operacion Puerto, and couldn't replace them. And if you look at Mercado's palmares, he's a pretty competent rider. He's finished 5th and 10th in the Vuelta before, and has won stages in the Tour (04), Dauphine (03), the overall in Semana Catalana (02), the overall at the Vuelta de Burgos (01), an a stage at the Vuelta (01), amongst some smaller races. maybe he won't become a big player, but he's a pretty decent rider to let go like that. i just looked, and and a sign of his climing abilities he finished just 6 seconds off of Menchov at the summit of Arcalis-Andorra, one of the biggest climbs in los Pirineos at last year's Vuelta.
i though the site of Serhiy Honchar (spelling #4) carrying bottles and leading the pacemaking off the Marie Blanque was pretty pathetic. T-Mobile needs to grow some stones and act like a team that is leading the Tour both figuratively and literally. they're substantially in the driver's seat after the TT. They have several possible leaders. And Gonchar has shown himself a morethanadequate big Tour rider, with finishes in the Giro of 6th, 2nd, 8th, 4th, 9th, and 10th at least. no, he hasn't been too big a Tour rider, but the guy's got enough class not to make him fetch bottles while he's in yellow. i said a couple days ago that he wouldn't win, and he won't. but make some other schmuck fetch water instead of the maillot jaune. it's demeaning.
I pray to God(s), ALL of them, that a Disco boy, and moreso Floyd puts the hurting on somebody tomorrow. i don't think i can watch another "I don't really want to win the Tour" display like every American in the race in the TT or today's "Let's wait, see, and be pussies" fest.
i though the site of Serhiy Honchar (spelling #4) carrying bottles and leading the pacemaking off the Marie Blanque was pretty pathetic. T-Mobile needs to grow some stones and act like a team that is leading the Tour both figuratively and literally. they're substantially in the driver's seat after the TT. They have several possible leaders. And Gonchar has shown himself a morethanadequate big Tour rider, with finishes in the Giro of 6th, 2nd, 8th, 4th, 9th, and 10th at least. no, he hasn't been too big a Tour rider, but the guy's got enough class not to make him fetch bottles while he's in yellow. i said a couple days ago that he wouldn't win, and he won't. but make some other schmuck fetch water instead of the maillot jaune. it's demeaning.
I pray to God(s), ALL of them, that a Disco boy, and moreso Floyd puts the hurting on somebody tomorrow. i don't think i can watch another "I don't really want to win the Tour" display like every American in the race in the TT or today's "Let's wait, see, and be pussies" fest.
Comments